MENA ICT Forum: The Impact of New Trends on Transportation Sector

Transportation sector is a major component of the economy. The importance of this sector stems from the fact that it has major impact on the daily life activity of millions of people and workers. It also employs millions of workers and generates revenues.

The move towards digital economy is evolving rapidly and it is going to have an impact on the transportation industry more than in the past. It is not deniable that the technological transformation will have significant impact on society and economic growth. To reap the chances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, civil society leaders, business people and the government must develop initiatives to be applied on one of the most vital sectors, which is the transportation sector.

Traffic jams have negative effects on daily life activities, there should be strategic plans to face these effects and solve them. There is an ultimate need for strategic plans for managing roads in the cities as more people are moving to urban areas, and this continues to rise faster than the capacity of the roads.

Currently, travel costs and traffic congestion is reduced by ridesharing innovations, in addition to reducing consequent pollution, such applications include Uber or the more common one in Dubai, Careem. They are not only faster than public transportation but also can offer other car entertainment features such as; wireless internet.

Another important move that has been tackled in recent research and studies is the move towards driverless cars. Singapore took the lead in this and launched the world’s first “self-driving” taxis. It seems that Singapore believes in the importance of transformation towards smart cities vision, in order to improve the quality of life.

Researches and studies show that more people are willing to take a ride in a self-driving car, as humans will never have to touch a steering wheel. Delphi Automotive, which is a global supplier of vehicle technology, announced recently that it plans to eliminate drivers as well as steering wheels and pedals by 2019.